I made it about 2/3 through American Gods. I was impressed with his writing style, but not with how the story was developing. I was literally falling asleep face first into the book. I will acknowledge his tremendous talent in more visual media like the graphic novels that he is most famous for, but if American Gods was representative of his work as a novelist, I'd consider him high among mediocre novelists.
It's because he was listing all the award winners last year--Gaiman's book won the Newbery. I actually already read The Graveyard Book last year when it first came out. His writing style amazes me. It's simple, yet whimsical. Just in the first few pages you see that, plus the darker edge. I loved Neverwhere too. This book is a really fast read. Maybe we could do 2 books for July? [The 2nd one could be The Hunger Games - just saying...]
I never liked the thought of picking a book just because it won an award. Think of it this way. Charlotte's Web was a finalist for the Newberry, but it didn't win. We all remember Charlotte's Web, but don't remember the one that did win that year.
It seems the books that have won awards were chosen mainly (or solely) for their literary excellence rather than general entertainment value.
Hundreds of great books get overlooked. If you focus on who's winning what, you miss a lot. Anyway, if we want to continue discussing awards, we should start a new thread
Should we list book recommendations for our August book? I'm going to be away starting next week for a bit so I 'd love if we had our book picked by the last weekend in July when I stop at home and can check WF for our new book. I figure since we already did a children's fantasy, we should avoid those. My recommendations: Looking for Alaska - John Green The Hunger Games - Collins My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly Siddhartha - Hesse Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
I shall add: Lolita - Vladmir Nabokov The Road - Cormac McCarthy American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami
I'd like The Plague by Camus, as it is my favourite novel. Also, either of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman or A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne, because they're fantastic reads and hilarious- and just good books for writers to read. Finally, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.
I'd second The Plague cuz it just came out as a popular penguin, and is super cheap now I just read The Road, so I don't know if I'm up for more McCarthy just yet...
Nothing too new, please. I can't afford to buy it, so it has to be something my library will have without a mile long waiting list. Despite my distaste for Holocaust books, I recently watched The Boy in the Striped pyjamas, so I'm interested in reading the book.
